About

They Hit The Second Tower is a catchphrase and punchline joke used in ironic memes related to the September 11th, 2001, Attacks. The phrase has been used online since the early 2020s alongside the George Bush Learning About 9/11 meme, gaining traction on TikTok in the following years with skit videos in which users uploaded humorous content pretending to pick up a phone and dramatically say, "They hit the second tower," similar to the 2001 Just Called… They Hit The South Tower meme that went viral in January 2023.

Origin

Precursor

As part of the ongoing meme trend of 2001 Just Called… They Hit The South Tower, the catchphrase was used as a punchline side-reference to the phrase, "They just hit the South Tower," which comes from the George Bush Learning About 9/11 meme. The TikTok,^[1] originally posted by user @primeofchaos on January 1st, 2023, received roughly 3 million likes in two years (shown below).

They Hit The Second Tower

On August 4th, 2023, YouTube^[2] user @noodles69990 uploaded a clip from the cartoon Regular Show, dubbing one of the characters saying, "They hit the second tower," which is one of the earliest direct uses of the catchphrase in a memetic format. The video (seen below) amassed over 73,000 views and 5,600 likes in two years.

Spread

Comedic skits and memes using the catchphrase and punchline setup were popularized on TikTok over the next two years as they spread online.

For instance, on December 17th, 2024, TikTok^[3] user @cassandramortimerlit posted a video grabbing a decorative phone in a store and pretending that someone told her the second tower was hit. The video (seen below) received more than 847,000 plays and 111,000 likes in six months.

On May 28th, 2025, TikTok^[4] user @angel_squared posted a similar video pretending to pick up a phone and reacting to being told the second tower was hit. The video (seen below) received over 2 million plays and 520,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

External References